I remain completely disappointed with Hooke Audio. I don't think it can handle concert recording end stop.

Took the Hooke to a certain Minnesota songwriter show tonight anticipating major security. But it was the same as any other Beacon Theater show, where my PCM-M10 and Soundman "earbud" mics easily get in. Killer show, hope someone stealthed it, especially "Thunder on the Mountain" and "Desolation Row," wow. If anyone is going later in the run, just take out your pouched PCM-M10 or whatever and small mics and put them in the bowl and you'll get through.

I used Audio Only recording, so the phone could supposedly darken its screen and continue. Only it didn't. Got 5 minutes of Mavis Staples with dropouts and distortion before it randomly stopped. Got zero minutes of Elston Gunn.

At home now, making sure it's in Airplane mode/Audio Only (which should be the default BTW) and all the other workarounds, and 15 inches away the Hooke pairing still breaks after a few minutes. There has been a lot of big talk about Hooke since 2014. I'm sure Bluetooth is difficult, but, sorry Anthony, put up or shut up.

@Earmonger, this sounds incredibly frustrating. I'm so sorry to hear you had issues recording at the show. While we have done everything we can to ensure a stable wireless recording to smartphones, we are finding in areas of heavy BT traffic that dropouts can occur. This is why we recommend running the phone in airplane mode during concerts, but it sounds like even this did not help. It's strange because one 700 seat venue will be fine where another will cause all different kinds of issues. We find that whether you're surrounded by metal or wood can even make a big difference. Our team continues to improve upon the app functionality and work towards improving performance in high BT trafficked areas. I assure you, we are working on a fix for situations like these.

Also, since the launch of iOS 11, we've seen a lot of serious issues come about. Apple completely overhauled their AV sessions in the new OS, and it is causing some specific devices in certain areas to perform worse than others. That being said, may I ask a few questions:

1. What is the model and make of your phone?2. What operating system were you running?3. Did you have any other apps open in the background during recording?

Regardless, we are currently working on a recording cable for conducting wired recordings straight to the phone to avoid this BT interference. I will make sure to keep you updated as this progresses.

They're just 9vdc two wire, aren't they?When I did the HPF-mod on my MMA6000 preamp (coughs - clears throat), I wired it for an external pair to be powered by the MMA6000, after I removed the HPF circuit.

1. What is the model and make of your phone?2. What operating system were you running?3. Did you have any other apps open in the background during recording?

I am Apple-free. Never liked walled gardens or proprietary software.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4Android 6.0.1

The phone was in my pocket with the screen dark. (Your early software apparently needed the screen on--not good.) If there were other apps, I don't know about them but smartphones always have something going on. Hooke has to deal with those and after all this time it should have things figured out.

Indeed it will be interesting to see the app updates. Good to see this is still alive, even if not always kicking.

A week or two back I finally had the chance to actually use my Hooke Verse to record some live music, at a jazz club - very contemporary sextet, no amplification apart from the double bass. I got the thing going with my phone in good time, but about a minute before the start of the show, the connection to my Android LG Q6 was lost and I couldn't get it to reconnect. Fortunately I had a humble Zoom H1N in my pocket, and got that running on my knee just in time for the first set.

During the interval I got the Hooke Verse going again - as memory serves me I had to turn it off, maybe reboot the phone, and start from scratch. Then it connected and held the connection, but to be sure I recorded the second set with both the Hooke and the Zoom.

I was impressed with the sound from the Hooke - maybe a bit rolled off at the top end compared with the Zoom, but the bass end was good a solid, with of course a very nice stereo image. The Zoom image was not so wide for the band (though the applause was good and wide), but that little device did surprise me with the quality of the recording (given that it was on my knee 25 feet from the band).

At the moment I wouldn't use the Hooke Verse for mission critical work. Something like ambiences where you can fiddle with it if need be would suit it fine. I do really like the concept of a no wires in-ear system for inconspicuous recording. I just wish it was more reliable.

but about a minute before the start of the show, the connection to my Android LG Q6 was lost and I couldn't get it to reconnect. Fortunately I had a humble Zoom H1N in my pocket, and got that running on my knee just in time for the first set.

During the interval I got the Hooke Verse going again - as memory serves me I had to turn it off, maybe reboot the phone, and start from scratch.

Well, I know what you mean, but what Hooke are trying to do here is a big ask. They've made their device compatible with both Apple and Android devices, and Android devices and versions can vary considerably. I have a variety of Android phones and tablets, and just in terms of the interface the Hooke app comes up different on each - none of them shows the battery meter, and one of them only shows part of the settings menu. One of the phones doesn't like recording video with the Hooke devices, the rest will do it with no problem. The only way Hooke could address those kinds of issues would be by testing on a huge number of devices, which a small outfit couldn't possibly afford to do. Overall I'm a happy Hooke customer as I recognise the inherent risks of recording across a bluetooth link to a wide variety of devices. It's a whole different scenario compared to plugging a mic into a mic input.

Meanwhile I have been creating some comparitive samples from the jazz gig I mentioned (Zoom vs Hooke) and as these devices are likely to be of interest to different people I'll post those samples in a dedicated thread for the comparison in a little while.